Grey and White (OC x Wolf O’Donnell)
by TheArcticVulpine
Summary: After being accepted into the legendary Starfox team, Kyle is forced to confront his new thoughts and feelings head on before they get out of control. Hopefully a certain lupine can assist him with his inner turmoil.
1. New Beginning

It's been a week ever since Kyle joined the legendary Starfox team. He pulled it off by impressing them with his exceptional knowledge in technology and overall electronic proficiency. It was the best thing that has happened to him ever since...what happened with his father.

He was an exceptional pilot himself compared to Fox, the leader of Starfox. Before he finished his academy days, he tried to study Fox's flight patterns and skillful maneuvers. Hell, he even saved up enough money working at the academy as a tech agent to buy and tweak his very own Arwing even before he became part of Starfox. He informed his Mother and little sister and they were elated. They even hold a mass celebration for Kyle and the whole team, earning a good first impression for Kyle.

At said party, Kyle was surprised with his own Starfox pilot uniform, blaster, reflector, and wearable comm system.

Now, the arctic vulpine was sitting in his living quarters studying the vastness of space. In all his life, he never thought he would be aboard the Great Fox on his way to his first mission.

_I can't believe I'm here. _

The darkness of space was ironically calming to him. It was fairly quiet when a sudden knock on the door made him jump, "Yeah?"

"It's me! May I come in?", asked the female voice.

It was Krystal. During his first week on the team, Krystal and him have gotten along pretty well pretty quickly. He admired her intellectual capabilites as well as her caring demeanor.

He shook himself from his thoughts and turned towards the door, "Come in!"

A moment later the metal door slid open with a swift _schwoom._

The vixen smiled as their eyes met. "Just thought I'd come down and check up on you seeing how it is your first mission." And indeed it was.

Two days ago the team got a mission from General Pepper giving them the task of patrolling the area around the sargasso space region, an illegal area in space where criminals and hardened mercenaries alike dwell and be amongst themselves. Apparently, weird activity was picked up around said region hence the canine general asking for Starfox's help. The thought of a safe recon mission seemed to ease Kyle's nerves. At first he was just excited to be able to be amongst the legendary mercenaries but after hearing about the mission details, it started to hit him. He was a mercenary now, he was going to have to potentially risk his life a whole lot more often than he ever planned to.

He couldn't help but smile at the vixen's kindness.

"I'm fine. I just...have a lot on my mind." The vulpine sighed and turned back to look out into space again. Krystal, being able to read the thoughts and emotions of others through telepathy, picked up on this and set her hand on Kyle's shoulder, "Are you sure about that? Mind you, I can read minds."

Kyle chuckled a bit before turning back to face the vixen, making eye contact once again.

"Maybe not. I just...wasn't expecting all of this to happen. Don't get me wrong it's unbelievably incredible to join you guys but..."

"But what?"

Kyle could see the worry in the vixen's eyes, "I hate having to leave my family like this. My little sister absolutely hated the fact that I was becoming a mercenary and that I could potentially lose my life and she would never know."

Krystal nodded and looked down at the floor, "I know it must be hard to leave your family but just think of all the other families you'd be helping to protect, including your own."

She was right. Even if he wasn't with his family anymore, he knows that what he's doing is for the better. "You're right, I'm just getting too nervous. I've never done mercenary work before."

The vixen patted his back, "Oh you'll be just fine. I was a bit nervous at first but trust me, it'll grow into you. It'll just take time."

_If only it were that easy..._

The vulpine sighed again as he stood up and grabbed something off of his desk. It looked like a folded-up bow that was made with electronic components instead of wood or another typical material, "I modified my blaster to be a precision type of weapon." He unfolded it and it came to life, glowing softly with the color of a neon blue. Krystal looked wide-eyes as she examined the new piece of weaponry, which Kyle noticed and grinned.

"Yep, I doubled this thing's range, increased its firepower by 75%, and I tweaked the battery so that it lasts longer than a standard blaster's battery."

"Kyle... that's outstanding!"

The vulpine beamed at her response as he closed it, resulting in its shut down.

"Yeah, it took me quite a while but I finally finished it last night."

Krystal had an impressed expression, "You should work with Slippy to modify everyone's weapons even more."

Suddenly, his door slid open revealing a golden-brown vulpine in his wake, "Guys, we're approaching the Sargasso space region so we need to get ready and head down to the bridge."

The two nodded as they both stood up and headed towards the door, but a hand on Kyle's shoulder stopped him. "You got this Kyle."

_God, I hope so..._

He nodded with a face full of determination.


	2. Dread

In his Arwing, the silence allowed his thoughts to intrude even further, as if every word was a megaphone to his ears.

_It's not safe, turn back!_

He couldn't turn back now, he'd be seen as a coward.

_Who cares what they would say, your life is more important!_

Was it really though?

_Go back to your family!_

He couldn't, he shouldn't...he wouldn't.

_No, I'm a mercenary now and mercenaries don't give in to fear so neither will I._

He took a deep breath as he, Fox, Falco, and Slippy zoomed through the vastness of space in their Arwings.

Nothing seemed to be out of line, just the usual debris and the actual Sargasso space he itself. He sighed in relief, maybe this wasn't going to be dangerous at all.

That all changed when suddenly his ship rocked forward as a beam hit the side of his cockpit.

"What the hell?!"

He hastily grabbed for his comment, "Fox! I'm being fired at!"

If took a moment for the leader to respond, probably in the same issue, "Yep, those are definitely enemy blast lasers for sure but who shot them? Slippy, got anything in your sights?"

The frog's was full of panic.

"It's Star Wolf!"

Kyle paled, his heart nearly skipping a beat, fear slowly drilling its way into his nerves.

_Star Wolf!? Oh shit, we're in freaking trouble. They easily outmaneuvered me and take me out. Shit!_

He clumsily grabbed for the controls turning his Arwing around to make his way to the Great Fox.

Suddenly, his visual comm feed came to life, revealing the one-eyed merc himself, "Fo—Huh? You're not Fox?"

That slightly confused him, did he look like Fox from afar.

The lupine spoke again but this time with a malicious tone to his voice, "So, they got a new one again? Hmm, I'll settle for that." And he disappeared, leaving the distressed vulpine to himself in complete silence once again.

_What did he mean, "I'll settle for that?" What is he planning!?_

His comm came to life again, Fox's panicked voice ringing in his ears, "Kyle! Watch out! They're heading for you! Evasive actions!"

_Fuck..._

He nodded with fake confidence as he deployed evasive manuevers, narrowly avoiding beam shots from one of the attacking ships. His heart beat against his chest with such force it felt like it would snap out of his chest within a few seconds. He did a couple of barrel rolls, deflecting some enemy shots by soon a shot hit him his right wing, making his flight patterns suddenly unstable.

"Fox! I'm hit, I can't turn my ship! I'm heading straight for the Sargasso base!"

Fox's voice blared from his comm," Shit! They had the element of surprise against us. Brace yourself and try to aim for the hangar. We'll get over to you as soon as we c..."

The comm shut off as his rumbling ship zoomed towards the hangar, thanks to his forced steering. He braved for impact as his ship shot into the open hangar, colliding and skidding across the metal floor making him his the front of the cockpit. After a few moments, the hangar closed and the roof of the cockpit hissed and opened.

The injured vulpine climbed out only to fall to the ground, impaling himself on the shards of glass and metal scraps laying all over the floor. He bellowed our in pain as he became very still, not wanting to make his injuries any worse.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck! I'm fucking screwed!_

He slowly leaned himself up against his damaged ship, carefully removing pieces of glass and metal from his body.

_I fucked up, I fucked up bad. Why am I such a damn coward?! Why can't I stop being so afraid!?_

His inner turmoil wasn't making his injuries any more bearable until he heard footsteps coming from the other side of his ship. This was it. He was dead. He was a sitting duck waiting to be shot and killed. He couldn't stand it. He couldn't stand not only the feeling of helplessness but also the feeling guilt of letting his team down.

_I'm sorry Mother._

The footsteps got louder and closer.

_I'm sorry, sis._

The figure came into view but was unrecognizable due to the vulpine's blurred vision.

_I'm sorry that I wasn't brave enough._

Then it hit him. It hit him like a brick to the face. Strength wasn't going through pain or proving how good of a pilot you are. Strength is the will to push forward through anything to achieve your goal. He stood up, while leaning on to his ship, and looked the one-eyes figure in the eye.

"_You."_

The vulpine's voice was full of rage. He was sick being weak, always doubting himself, always being afraid. He had enough.

"You...you are going to pay for that!"

He lunged, through a flurry of punches and jabs, which were blocked by the figure. He suddenly received an elbow to the face and a fist to the gut, sending him down to his knees. Pain surged through his gut, making him unable to move.

The figure finally spoke, "Hmph, seems like you're more feisty than I thought."

His gruff voice sent a spike of anger through him once again, enabling him to get back up and lunge at the figure again. Finally, he managed a solid blow to the figure's face, resulting in a short stumble but he regained his composure almost immediately. The vulpine smirked thinking he was going to be able to take the figure on but it faded away when he heard the figure let out a loud, hearty laugh, "You really think that with that cocky little smirk of yours and a single blow to the face is going to get you out of here?"

Maybe he did. But now that thought is pretty much out the window.

The figure's grin shifted into a menacing snarl, "You are surely mistaken, pup."

The figure lunged at him, landing powerful blows into his gut, chest, and face. The vulpine yelped as he fell backward to the floor while the lupine pinned him down with a hand tightly gripping around his neck. Air escaped his lungs but didn't come back in, he was suffocating. He kicked and flailed but to no avail. With time running short he did what he though was a last resort and reached up to bite the lupine's neck.

He was successful, piercing the skin the lupine yelled out in pain as he let go of him, leaving the vulpine to gasp greedily for air with a hand turning his sore windpipe. "That's what you get you bastard!", he spat before getting up again. He breathed slow, deep breathes trying to refill his lungs as the lupine gripped his own neck, "You're clever, I'll give you that but sadly, this round belongs to me.

_What the hell is he talking about?_

Suddenly, drowsiness started to drain the vulpine of his energy, making it hard to stand. He checked his neck and felt a small little syringe in his neck.

_Oh no..._

It was over, just like the lupine said. He fell to his hands and knees holding his neck as his eyelids became heavier and heavier as seconds passed.

_I can't...die like this..._

He couldn't fight it anymore, his hands gave out and he collapsed to the ground as his consciousness left him, leaving his fate in the hands of the ruthless Wolf O'Donnell.


End file.
